Best Kodi Builds for June of 2017 – In-Depth with Apollo AiOne Krypton

Hello and welcome to the June 2017 edition of our Kodi builds roundup. Last month, we took a look at one of the slickest builds around: Cellar Door TV. The build we’re highlighting this time isn’t as quite pretty, but it sure is huge.

Apollo is much bigger than Cellar Door TV and has a whole lot more addons. But, it also isn’t as polished.

If you want to see what the new Krypton edition of Apollo is like but you’re not sure if you want to download it yet, keep reading. This in-depth review will tell you everything you need to know before you try it out.

Before we Proceed

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Before you install Apollo…

Apollo is about 750 megabytes in all, which is quite large for a build. The majority of Kodi builds are less than 250 megabytes. If you’re running Kodi on a mobile device or on an Android box, you may want to opt to use a smaller build.

Additionally, Apollo is not as easy to use compared to Cellar Door TV and other builds that cater to Kodi beginners. But if you read the descriptions for each menu screen that we’ve added to this review, you won’t get lost.

What’s new in Apollo?

It’s been a long time since we last gave Apollo an in-depth review. A lot has changed in this build since we looked at it months ago, with the main difference being that Apollo’s menu system has been given a big makeover.

Previous versions of Apollo were very CPU intensive. Now, you don’t need a top-of-the-line machine to run Apollo anymore. In fact, the new Krypton version of Apollo is surprisingly quick.

Note: Performance may vary depending on your equipment. I used a Macbook Pro from 2012 to check out Apollo and it worked just fine when I was testing it out. However, multitasking did suffer a bit– especially on pages with widgets and lots of submenu buttons.

Less menu pages, but the same amount of addons

If you’ve ever used one of the older versions of Apollo, you may remember its seemingly endless number of menus and submenus.

Since then, its maze-like interface has been simplified a bit. However, it still has 23 separate pages to explore, and individual pages still have a ton of submenu buttons. For example, the movies page has over 50 buttons. Each button leads to an addon or links to a content list.

Apollo’s main menu pages

The makers of Apollo decided to go with a more streamlined design. There aren’t as many background images and widgets, though there are still quite a few on some of the bigger pages.

Keep reading for screenshots of each of Apollo’s menu pages, or scroll down to the bottom of the page to find out how to install it.

Addons

This is what Apollo’s addon page looks like.

Since Apollo’s tremendous size is what makes this build special, it makes sense to start on the addons menu page when you open up Apollo for the first time.

Clicking directly on where it says “addons” will take you into Kodi’s addon management screen. You can also find the video, music and program addons by clicking the submenu bar.

If you’re in the mood to explore, a good place to start would be video addons. Just about every addon that we’ve covered here at AddonHQ can be found via Apollo’s video addon menu.

A menu featuring all of Apollo’s video addons.

System

This is what Apollo’s system page looks like.

The system page contains all the submenus you might expect. You can delete your packages and cache, perform a fresh start and do some other technical things with your Kodi via the submenu.

Additionally, Apollo’s system page allows you to access Ares Wizard and the 2.1 Wizard. 2.1 Wizard allows you to quickly switch into different builds. If you download a build via the 2.1 Wizard, you don’t have to go through the annoying process of providing a verification PIN code. But if you download a build via Ares Wizard, you have to verify.

Quit

This menu is simple, but handy for when you want to quickly shut down or logout of Kodi.

This is what Apollo’s quit page looks like.

Music

This is what Apollo’s music page looks like.

Apollo’s music menu page is surprisingly deep. Most builds don’t have much to offer as far as music goes, but the collection of music addons that you’ll find via this menu are actually quite good.

For example, via YouMusic you can discover interesting music video playlists like “visually stunning,” “global discoveries” and more. In addition to YouMusic, there are 23 other music addons you can check out via the submenu.

Kids

This is what Apollo’s kids page looks like.

The huge amount of addons linked to in this page’s submenu bar will likely keep your kids busy until they reach adulthood. There are 37 different submenu buttons in all and each of them opens up a different kids-centric addon or list.

Comedy

This is what Apollo’s comedy page looks like.

This page features links to selected British and American standup specials, rifftracks and more. Most of the content here you can also find on YouTube, but on YouTube acts are often divided up into segments. Streams of shows that you’ll encounter via this page contain the entire act.

Movies

This is what Apollo’s movies page looks like.

The submenu bar that you’ll find on this page seems to go on forever. There are 52 movie addons in all. The two best ones of the bunch are Specto and Exodus. You’ll almost always be able to find what you want via those two, but if you like to look at themed playlists or find links to little-known flicks the others might also come in handy.

4K

This is what Apollo’s 4k page looks like.

This menu seems to be under construction, but it looks like it’s meant to be a space for high definition streams. There seems to be no search option here, and some of the links don’t work. You have to browse the thumbnails alphabetically to find the title you want.

TV Shows

This is what Apollo’s TV shows page looks like.

Apollo’s TV Shows page is not quite as slick looking as CellarDoor TV’s. You can’t read plot info before you fire up a stream. You can, however, choose from 32 different TV addons.

Bob

This is what Apollo’s Bob page looks like.

Bob is a TV and movies addon with a personal touch. Unlike the most popular streaming addons, Bob offers handpicked content lists and “boxset” anthologies of popular franchises.

Evolve

This is what Apollo’s Evolve page looks like.

Like Bob, Evolve features curated lists of movies and TV shows. But unlike Bob, multiple people help craft its playlists. Each Evolve contributor has a unique nickname. The nicknames are derived from the Evolve video game. You can check out the playlists that Evolve’s contributors have created by clicking on the yellow widget labeled “listers”. Or, you can just browse by clicking on one of the other widgets.

Phoenix

This is what Apollo’s Phoenix page looks like.

Apollo makes things a bit easier for anyone who wants to use Phoenix. You can get to all of Phoenix’s best lists and avoid its abandoned sections by clicking the submenus on the bottom of Apollo’s Phoenix menu page.

UK Turk

This is what Apollo’s UK Turk page looks like.

The UK Turk addon used to be quite popular, but many of its menus now generate errors. There’s no clear reason for UK Turk to be featured on a main menu page, but it’s there for those who want to use it.

Doc Hub

As its name suggests, this page contains lots of links to documentary films. Topics include famous crimes and murders, conspiracy theories, environmental issues, history and more.

On Demand

This is what Apollo’s On Demand page looks like.

This page looks like it’s meant to be a place for live sports addons, but the selection here is bit weak. The focus here is on a odd mix of sports including dart throwing competitions, professional wrestling and UK soccer.

TV Live

This is what Apollo’s TV Live page looks like.

The best thing about this page is probably the FilmOn button in the submenu. Years ago, FilmOn was one of the first websites to stream TV channels live over the web. However, FilmOn doesn’t appreciate Kodi streamers due to the fact that Kodi automatically cuts out their banner ads and popups. To block Kodi users, FilmOn periodically changes its site around in order to prevent addons from accessing it. Despite this, whoever designed the FilmOn addon featured in the submenu was able to develop some kind of workaround. The FilmOn addon worked just fine when I tried it out.

Other good live TV addons featured here include ZemTV and Pro Sport. There’s also a broken button for the defunct Kodi addon Navi-X, which recently shut down due to legal issues.

One242415

This is what Apollo’s One242415 page looks like.

One242415 is one of the few well-maintained sections of Phoenix. The widgets on Apollo’s One242415 page feature a unique collection of themed lists. If you are bored and have no idea what to watch, they’re worth a look.

Sports

Health

Many exercise videos that you can find via this page on Apollo feature complete workout regimens. There are also free clips from YouTube thrown into the mix as well.

Favourites

This is what Apollo’s Favourites page looks like.

There are three favorites systems you can use with Apollo: Playlist Loader, PleXMBC and PVR IPTV Simple Client. All three systems seem a bit complex and hard to figure out, which is probably why most people use Trakt to save their favorite streams when using Kodi.

Trakt

This is what Apollo’s Trakt page looks like.

As mentioned above, Trakt is by far the most popular bookmaking system for Kodi 3rd party video addons. If you like to use Trakt with Kodi, you can login via this page.

Apollo-VOD

This is what Apollo’s Apollo-VOD page looks like.

Normally VOD stands for “Video On Demand.” However, the only type of content that you will find on the Apollo-VOD page is music. The submenu button “Subsonic Music” takes you to a menu that features music from a handful of different indie musicians and bands.

How to Install Apollo on Kodi

The best way to get Apollo is via Ares Wizard. Once you get Ares Wizard, installing Apollo is just a matter of clicking a few buttons. All you have to do is open up Ares Wizard and jump over to builds. Apollo is listed at green on the top of the menu. Because Apollo is a featured build, you’ll have to get a PIN code to download it.

The PIN code is free, but you’ll have to look at a banner ad to find out what it is. It also changes every 5 to 10 minutes.

A detailed Ares Wizard installation guide (for beginners)

If you don’t have Ares Wizard yet, you should follow the guide below and install it on your Kodi. Ares Wizard is free and super easy to use, plus it allows you to access all kinds of Kodi software.

A Short Ares Wizard installation guide (for pros)

If you don’t have Ares Wizard yet, go to repo.aresproject.com/magic/repository.aresproject and download the repo file repository.aresproject.zip. Once you’ve got the zip for the repo, you can install it from within Kodi via install from zip. Then, you can open the Ares Project repository and install the Ares Wizard via install from repository.